Columbus went 24-17-7 this past season much in thanks to the play of Vezina Trophy winnerSergei Bobrovsky. While the Jackets struggled scoring goals, his play and the play of Columbus’ defense helped keep them in more games than not. It also made them one of the more dangerous teams to face down the stretch.

Now Richards will see what he can do with the Jackets over the course of a full 82-game season. Of course, bringing back Bobrovsky will be an important part of that and he’s still being coy with Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen about returning there.

Wow, talk about showing faith in Richards….a one year deal? This could play out a few different ways: 1) they lose Bobrovsky to the KHL and have yet another losing season because of the lack of goaltending depth/#1 guy and they fire Richards. 2) They get Bobrovsky signed, but he craps the bed after getting a big deal after only a single season and they fire Richards. 3) They get the Bobrovsky deal sorted out, he continues to impress and someone else hires Richards at the end of his contract. So unless it’s #3 and Richards decides he wants to stick around, it sounds like a bad situation all around for Columbus and that’s on the GM, not the coach.